昔有愚人养育七子，一子先死。时此愚人见子既死，便欲停置于其家中，自欲弃去。
In the past, there was a foolish person who nurtured seven sons, with one son first dying. Then, this foolish person, seeing that since the son has died, then desired to leave and put him within his home, personally desiring to abandon him to go away.
傍人见已而语之言：「生死道异，当速庄严致于远处而殡葬之，云何得留自欲弃去？」
A bystander, seeing this already, then spoke these words, ‘As the living and dead have paths different, you should quickly and with dignity send him to a faraway place and bury him. How can you leave him, personally desiring to abandon him to go away?’
尔时愚人闻此语已即自思念：「若不得留要当葬者，须更杀一子停担两头乃可胜致。」于是便更杀其一子，而担负之远葬林野。
At that time, the foolish person, hearing these words already, then personally thought, ‘If I cannot leave and should bury him, I must also kill one more son. Putting and shouldering them on two ends, thus can they be successfully sent.’ Thereupon, he then also killed one more of his sons, and shouldered them to that faraway burial forest in the wild.
时人见之，深生嗤笑怪未曾有。
The people at that time, seeing this, gave rise to great sneering at his oddness, never before seen.
譬如比丘私犯一戒，情惮改悔，默然覆藏自说清净，或有知者即语之言：「出家之人守持禁戒如护明珠不使缺落，汝今云何违犯所受欲不忏悔？」
For example, Bhikṣus who privately violate one precept, feeling dread of correction and repentance, silently cover and hide them, personally saying they are pure. Perhaps, there are those who know, then speaking these words, ‘As people who have left the household life should guard and uphold the prohibitive precepts like protecting bright gems, not causing them to be incomplete with those missing, how can you now violate those received and desire to not repent?’
犯戒者言：「苟须忏者，更就犯之然后当出。」遂便破戒多作不善，尔乃顿出。
Those who have violated precepts say, ‘If that needs repentance, of even more, I will right away violate them, after that then confessing.’ Immediately breaking many precepts, doing that which is not good, thereupon immediately confessing.
如彼愚人一子既死又杀一子，今此比丘亦复如是。
Like that foolish person, with one son since dead, also killing one more son, now these Bhikṣus, are likewise thus.
[Note: Precepts are usually discreetly broken and concealed precisely because those who do so know they should be neither broken nor with the broken concealed. To do so is to go against one’s conscience, one’s Buddha-nature (佛性). To stringently uphold the precepts like they are each a precious treasure not to be damaged or lost is to be aligned with Buddha-nature instead.
It is with immediate confession and repentance for any one precept violated, that that particular precept, along with others, are upheld well. If there is deliberate adding of moral transgressions with more broken precepts before confessing them in one go, such confession is accordingly less likely to be sincere, just as the repentance that follows is accordingly less likely to be genuine. This harms one’s spiritual progress, while harming others affected by the broken precepts.]
全百喻
All Hundred Parables:
https://purelanders.com/baiyu
